Would you vote for Hillary Clinton?

June 16, 2014 - Andrea Johnson

Judging by her new memoir, her book tour, and the interviews she's been doing in recent days, Hillary will very likely be running for President. Republicans are also dredging up every bit of negative information they can find in her past. There's the 1975 Arkansas case where defense attorney Hillary Clinton attacked the reputation of a 12-year-old girl to get her alleged assailant a plea deal. Hillary gave a series of interviews about the case in the early 1980s, according to The Washington Free Beacon at http://freebeacon.com/politics/the-hillary-tapes/.

It is a disturbing story, though it is also clear that she did what a defense attorney is required to do and gave her client a zealous defense. As horrible as the case is, I don't hold her skill as a defense attorney against her, nor do I hold it against her that she enjoyed using her skills and beating a prosecutor who screwed up. There is some question over whether she violated attorney-client privilege in those interviews, though it doesn't sound to me like she actually revealed anything that her client told her.

The larger issue here may be one of character and how we can expect her to react in a crisis. Her actions in 1975 will be weighed along with her public and private actions over the last four or five decades. I'm sure we can expect another discussion of Vince Foster and Whitewater again too, along with the attacks on the American ambassador and other Americans in the attack on the embassy in Benghazi, Libya. Then, of course, there will be her 1990s attempt at comprehensive health care reform and the true state of her marriage and how much involvement Bill Clinton would have in a Hillary Rodham Clinton White House.

Do you think Hillary Rodham Clinton will be the Democratic presidential nominee? Could you vote for her if she runs for President?

Article Comments

JackAaah

Jul-01-14 4:48 PM

that's why I had a scale of 1 to 10.....so one could average all the political stances without breaking into individual topics...maybe Obama is a little conservative on some issues, and Powell conservative on some issues....it's still very difficult to comprehend someone with supposedly mainly conservative or Republican leanings putting his support to someone mostly opposite of his values politically...again without talking particulars....makes no sense....unless he votes by skin color, and disregards the rest? And you know what that would be...

AndreaJohnson

Jul-01-14 12:03 PM

The scale I was using in my assessment was left of the center left and left of the center right, judging Obama and Powell by the standards of their respective parties. By Republican standards, Obama is clearly a leftist; by Democratic standards, Powell is a touch too conservative to be a true Democrat. There seems to be an ongoing war in both parties over which group holds the "purest" viewpoint. With Republicans, the war is between Tea Party populists and traditional business Republicans. The Democratic war is about over and I think the blue dogs have been silenced or marginalized, particularly if they don't agree with the mainstream view on abortion rights and gay marriage. It would be nice if we had a strong third party option for those in the middle.

AndreaJohnson

Jul-01-14 11:57 AM

I don't think you can reduce political positions to a 1 to 10 scale, though. There's more nuance involved. Your definition of conservative might well be someone else's moderate or even liberal. And people can hold both conservative and liberal opinions on different topics. From your perspective, Obama may well look like an extreme liberal but he looks pretty middle of the road to some of the folks I read over at Alternet.

JackAaah

I was not trying to break things down by topic...just a number for each person.

I would say Powell is probable a 6, a little left of center, in fact, I don't believe he's even stated for quite a number of years that he is a Republican.

Obama definitely is more that just left of center. He would be an 8 or 9. We have not had a president pushing for more and bigger government, pushing agendas the way he has, especially with EO's on major issues, and controversial issues.

And as far as Powell, not even a moderate Republican could support such a left leaning candidate...and two times at that. And be a Republican....it goes against all rationale...

AndreaJohnson

Jun-28-14 4:56 PM

I don't know where Powell stands on every single issue but I'd probably class him as a moderate Republican. Some of his opinions may overlap with that of blue dog Democrats and some may be too liberal for extremely conservative Republicans.

Obama has not pleased everyone in the Democratic party, particularly those on the far left. There is regular criticism of him on sites like Alternet or Huffington Post. I'd put him slightly to the left of center left in some areas, but he's certainly not the most liberal of Democrats in general. Take a look at his policies regarding the NSA, military and defense and the general lack of openness in his administration, all things that have irked the left wing of the party.

AndreaJohnson

Jun-26-14 11:49 AM

Rush Limbaugh and NPR appeal to different demographics. Ben Carson is apparently a candidate who is appealing to the demographic that listens to Rush Limbaugh. I listen to Rush Limbaugh and various programs on NPR, in addition to reading blogs and newspapers of various political and religious persuasions because I believe in being well-informed and in getting my news directly from the source, not filtered through various media talking heads whose viewpoints are colored by their biases. But, to answer your question, both NPR and Rush Limbaugh have different biases.

locomotive

BTW, I would NOT vote for Hillary Clinton. The biggest reason why is her enabling of her husband's past "bad behaviors." She "stood by her man" when it meant political expediency for herself. Nice......

JackAaah

JackAaah

Jun-24-14 5:14 PM

I cannot wait to see if Dr Ben Carson gets the Republican nod....and if MY Democrat Party goes after him with a vengeance...I would have to say if they did...'it's because he's black'...I would have to feel that...

AndreaJohnson

MattRothchild

Jun-24-14 3:54 PM

I studied the candidats very carefully. Huntsman isn't who you think he is. He wasn't very interested at all in Negative Rights. He was rightly trashed by the "Right Wing", although the reasons given at the time for said trashing weren't exactly on the mark either.

AndreaJohnson

Jun-23-14 5:30 PM

Let me clarify: the next President should either have served in the military or have immediate family or friends who have served. People who don't know the service intimately would seem to be at greater risk of ordering people into battle unnecessarily.

AndreaJohnson

MattRothchild

Jun-23-14 2:22 PM

Someone who keeps Negative Rights front and center in their mind. Someone who offers to be the president of everyone, not just of their favorite constiuencies, but realizing that respect for Negative Rights still comes first.

AndreaJohnson

Jun-23-14 1:39 PM

Here's another question for you: what would be on your list of qualifications for the next president?

My personal requirements: honesty, integrity, intelligence,a background in business or academia AND in public service with some substance to it, including international affairs; some passing acquaintance with the military; the ability to listen to both sides on the political aisle and to make compromises on occasion to get things done; someone who is not in the pocket of lobbyists and big corporations. Preferably, the candidates would not include the sort of person who can say, "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." I suppose that's a tall order. I don't think most well-qualified people are crazy enough to run for President.

FreedomRings

To my amazement there is a Hillary Clinton Monument Committee and I thought I would check it out. I joined as I only thought it was fitting to do so.

We originally wanted to put her on Mt. Rushmore until we discovered there was not enough room for two more faces.

We then decided to erect a statue of Hillary in the Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame. We were in a quandary as to where the statue should be placed. It was not proper to place it beside the statue of George Washington, who never told a lie, or beside her husband William J. Clinton, who never told the truth, since Hillary could never tell the difference.

We finally decided to place it beside Christopher Columbus, the greatest Democrat of them all. He left not knowing where he was going, and when he got there he did not know where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been, and did it all on someone else's money.

FreedomRings

JackAaah

Jun-23-14 7:56 AM

faux-center...there are a lot of people qualified to be president, but they absolutely would make horrible presidents. I at one time said that Obama had no qualifications to be president, but now after seeing how much he has moved our country forword, I now realize that the 'qualified' rantings are meaningless...and it sure give me hope when our side can continually reject everything he has done and say the opponents do not like Obama because of his race. There is no proof of that but we will continue that mantra...